An analyst at Kantra revealed that grocery prices in the four weeks to October 29 were 9.7% higher than a year ago, down from 11% the previous month.
Take-home grocery sales increased 7.4% year on year during the same time, trailing inflation.
It is the ninth consecutive decrease in the pace of price increases since the figure soared to 17.5% in March and the first time it has dipped below 10% since July of last year.
The head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar, Fraser McKevitt, stated, “While the drop … is positive news and something of a watershed, consumers will still be feeling the pinch.”
The data revealed by Kantar suggests that despite the decline in grocery prices, the year-on-year fall in prices is only subjected to a few categories, such as butter, milk, and dried pasta.
From August to October, the average price of a standard sparkling wine bottle fell from £7.46 to £6.86, a nearly 8% drop.
As consumers continue to strive to save money, promotional spending reached 27.2% of total grocery sales. This is the greatest level since last Christmas and a huge increase from last October when it was less than a fourth of what it is now.
Nonetheless, there has been an increase in promoting self-labeled goods compared to branded ones since February 2022, and in the past four weeks, there has been a sales boost of 8%. However, such a gap could be closed during the festive season.
In recent months, major supermarkets across the UK have reduced the prices of some essential products.
McKevitt stated, “Retailers continue to look at ways of softening the blow for shoppers and slowing the rate of price rises.”
“This has included upping the ante on promotions — every single one of the grocers increased the proportion of sales through deals versus last year, which is something that has only happened on one other occasion in nearly 10 years,” he further added.
With the increase in sales in the last quarters surging by 14.7% and a market share of 7.6%, Lidl was again the fastest-growing supermarket in October.
Its competitors, Aldi and Waitrose, were the only two retailers to record 207,000 more buyers compared to last year.
While Aldi increased its sales by 13.2%, Waitrose was behind it by 5.4%, taking 9.7% and 4.6% of the market, respectively.
Senior personal finance analyst at Interactive Investor, Myron Jobson, stated: “Food inflation easing back to a single digit level is a psychological milestone that will make many Britons feel good about where prices are heading.”
“Britons have been force fed a diet of higher costs for basic necessities for a prolonged period. The fact that we’re seeing some easing in food inflation is really important for shoppers.”
- Published By Team Timeswire